How To Eat To Save The Planet

01/02/2011 15:43
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Updated
22 May 2015

Christine Morgan
MyDaily UK

Could what you eat help save the environment? Photo: Getty

We're constantly told how to eat healthily to keep our bodies and minds in good shape, but a new diet from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has a different aim - it's not just good for your health, it's good for the planet too.

According to the WWF, some of the foods we eat here in the UK have been produced by farming methods that are ruining many natural environments elsewhere in the world - places like the Brazilian Savannah, for instance, which is currently being destroyed in order to produce animal feed for the livestock that ends up on our plate as meat.

And in Borneo, says the WWF, ancient tropical forests are being felled to plant palm trees to produce palm oil, which is used to make many processed foods ranging from biscuits to fish fingers.

Eating less meat and fewer processed foods and more fruit, vegetables and grains, however, could make a huge difference - not just to our own health but to the health of the planet too.

If you care about the environment - perhaps you're already a regular recycler and try to save energy wherever possible - you may be interested to read that the WWF has collaborated with the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health at the University of Aberdeen to come up with the Livewell 2020 diet.

The diet is based on official government nutritional guidelines for healthy eating. It recommends eating more seasonal, locally produced fruit and vegetables along with less meat and less highly processed foods.

The diet, along with a suggested shopping list, is available to download from the WWF website.